a bruschi-free zone

well, after some erronious reports (courtesy of an overzealous boston news agency) stating that tedy bruschi would be returning for the 2005 season, we've come to find out that our man tedy will NOT be suiting up for your world champion new england patriots until 2006, if ever.

i find it amazing we're even having this discussion—-the guy had a STROKE--yet he still had enough guts, talent and ability to alllllll-most get back out on the field. and i can't imagine how much it hurts for him to have to admit that no, he can't play this year, because his heart (which he relied on more than any other muscle in his body) won't allow him to.

as easy as it is today to bow down to the altar of professional athletes and their amazing ability, this is a guy who truly EARNED the respect of his peers and, ultimately, became a true cult hero here in new england. not because of his athleticism and grace, but through his grit, integrity and bulldoggedness (if that's not a real word it should be). and now that he's had heart trouble, in new england all we can think about is reggie lewis. it's not fun to think about that--another one of our own struck down. hopefully he'll be able to get through this and come back; i just hope that, whatever he decides to do with his future, we won't have to bury another one of our heroes. and, just like reggie, this is a player who means more to his team than the numbers he puts up.

i don't think this is the last we've seen of number 54, but if we have, i think it's time to seriously begin considering a massive grassroots campaign to get tedy into canton. hopefully, though, he'll be back where he belongs next year to defend the patriots' unprecedented THIRD SUPER BOWL IN A ROW. but for this year at least, there's a gigantic hole on the patriots that needs to be filled in tedy's absence.

and i don't just mean on the field.

"by the way, which one's pink?"

all my life, i've been a fan of pink floyd, so hearing that that the "heyday" lineup (roger, david, nick, richard) were getting back together for a one-off performance for Live8 in london was, to say the least, intriguing.

and you know what? they put on a tremendous show if you caught the performance on AOL.com. it was a stripped down version of the band, unlike the ridiculously over-the-top production they put on tour from '87 on. gone were the loads of additional musicians, save a second, rhythm guitar player and a backup singer. and they ripped! roger waters was clearly bursting (and nearly self-destructing) with nervous engery, but, damn, that added to the fun! seeing the members of pink floyd smiling? together? spontaneously? unheard of! especially from those stuffy bastards. and that was the fun of it. dave gilmour can still play a mean guitar, the band was tight and alive, and it was worth ever second if you caught it.

except on MTV, where they cut away during the guitar solo of "comfortably numb." i'm sorry, but that's the last straw—i want to jam a soup spoon in my head when i think about how disrespectful it was—the last nail in the coffin of what used to be a truly groundbreaking network. it's now gone and turned itself in to a second-rate, talentless network full of wannabe assholes, sluts, drunks and absolute morons willing to fuck their mother if it'll get them on TV. but it's "reality!" yeah, if reality is exploiting every stereotype available by putting people on TV who put on the role of "frat boy," "gay guy," "hip-hop dude," "sorority chick" and "depressed goth/outsider/ugly duckling." i've a feeling that they've forgotten how to act when the camera looks away...

what the hell happened? are you saying you can't move those commercials back a little bit (oh, i don't know, somewhere in one of those spots where you don't show music anymore, maybe...) so floyd can finish their set? the backlash has been swift and definite, and i'm thinking that MTV has lost it. and for what? for $$$.

don't get me wrong, i'm fine with the idea of a business wanting to do well and be successful financially, but when nobody knows who's in charge anymore, and when MTV (and every other network) is part of a conglomerate of faceless suits, i'm kind of leery of anything they do that's supposed to smack of artistic merit. how can that happen when it has to go through standards and practices? oh, unless steve-o is stapling a crocodile to his nuts.

how about something truly offensive, like music videos by progressive musicians taking some real risks, and (gasp!) playing instruments instead of saying "babe" over a techno track?

oh, wait. THAT is truly offensive. good music can just change your life for the better. wouldn't want to see that on MTV.

wouldn't sell...